Himalayan Sherpa Foundation Appeal

Date: 7.05.2015

The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal faced a devastating earthquake of 7.9 magnitudes on April 25th, 2015 that resulted in a death toll of over 8,700 people and at least 17,800 injured with more than 300,000 displaced of their homes. The massive earthquake has inflicted the nation with still numbers of people missing (228 Nepalese and 96 foreigners). The number of deaths is expected to rise as many are still buried beneath the rubbles of destroyed settlements. The schools, monasteries, temples, hospitals, roads, bridges and government offices have all been ruined by this devastating hit.

Due to the earthquake, the avalanche washed out the Everest base camp, killing 16 Nepalese (Sherpa’s), 4 foreign climbers and injured more than 200 climbers. All the dead bodies were evacuated and injured climbers were rescued back to Kathmandu and most of the climbers went back home after some treatment in Kathmandu. The earthquake also destroyed the majority of the schools in the Khumbu region. Students are currently taking classes under a tent, as a temporary measure. Many kids are unable to attend their schools currently due to the earthquake and their own personal problems too. In these troublesome times, we want to encourage our students to continue with their school. The earthquake has also damaged the hospitals of the region. There were many stories of how the locals could not get any treatment during the earthquake period. It is very sad to learn that we are not able to provide the public with basic treatments in this day and age. Similarly, the monasteries and the houses have all been partially or fully damaged as well.

As of now, Himalayan Sherpa Foundation (HSF) has completed the “first phase” of action, helping in distribution of tents for the immediate relief such as temporary shelters in the villages of Chouri Kharka, Rimijung, Gumela and Phakding along with the support from German Red Cross, Halesi Mani Committee and Mahendra Jyoti Ex-student Forum. Besides the temporary shelter, we have provided some basic needs like food, clothes, and hygienic products to the locals Phuyal Gaun, Goldunga, Nakhantdol in Kathmandu district and Majhi Gaun in Kavre District. We have set up a full equipment clinic in Phakding to take care of the locals properly in case they are in need of health assistance. The immediate relief project of Himalayan Sherpa Foundation; such as the distribution of foods is still ongoing but we are heading forward with the project of “reconstruction and rehabilitation” of local settlement in Khumbu region which will be our “second phase” of the project. In this phase, we will be collecting all the data and assess the damages caused by the earthquake. Upon completion of the assessment of the damages, HSF plans to prepare several projects, which will help in rebuilding and rehabilitating process. These projects will be carried out strategically using the best resources available.

Our team members are actively involved in collecting data in the Khumbu region. So far, they have observed, collected data and established liaison with local clubs and forums of the region. We have some additional pictures of the earthquake devastation in the region along with most of the data. We are still waiting for the complete data and once we receive them, the foundation will examine and assess the report and then evaluate its resources and potential opportunities to decide on rehabilitation and reconstruction of the houses, schools, and monasteries of the village. The process of documenting the extent of total damages and the estimation of total costs in rebuilding will fall in our foundations “second phase” category, which we will bring to you in coming days once we get the finalized details. After the complete report, we want to strategically move ahead, as we really want to utilize the resources efficiently and effectively. From this report, we will get a clear picture of whether the damage has been partially damaged or fully damaged. Our team will be covering Chourikharka and Khumjung VDC.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Asia Foundation, Halesi Mani Committee, and German Red Cross for providing the tents for the people of Chouri Kharka VDC and also credits goes to the executive board of Mahendra Jyoti Ex-Student Forum for being active during the distribution of tents for the locals of Chouri Kharka VDC. The people of Chouri Kharka VDC were really benefitted from the support of tents as an immediate shelter. It was also my pleasure to be a part of helping hands in the distribution of the tents to the people of Chouri Kharka VDC.

We came to an end of the first phase of our immediate relief program with the continuous and tireless work of our team members for our first phase of delivering immediate help to the local people possible. As you can imagine, the earthquake left a devastating impact in our country destroying many houses, schools, hospitals, and monasteries. Our focus on “the second phase” will be to work on rebuilding and rehabilitating the infrastructures and we hope to receive continuing support from our partnering friends.

Again, I would like to thank all our partner friends for their tremendous support in these times of difficulty. We really appreciate all our partners for being there when we were in dire need and hope that you can continuously provide support in the future in any way possible. We appreciate all our donors for their strong and kind help in bringing the life of all survivors back to normal by rebuilding the infrastructures such as houses, schools, hospitals, and monasteries.

Thanking you,